Henry K. Paul, 1840-1909 and Sarah Jane (Davis) Paul, 1842-1910

 

HENRY (aka HARRY) K. PAUL was born likely on 31 December 1840 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to parents Daniel C. Paul and Margaret (Fry) Paul.[1]  After an extensive search, a birth record for Henry K. Paul has not been located in either Philadelphia or Montgomery counties. The most logical birth year for Henry is 1840 – if he was born in December 1839, he should have been listed on the 1840 census of his father Daniel C. Paul as a male child under 5yo.[2]  It is possible that the other census ages were rounded up, and he was probably not the informant for any of them.  The civil war registration shows 1840 as the calculated birth year; the request was very specific on this document (“age as of 1 July 1863”), and he was probably the informant for this process, making it likely that it was more correct.[3] 

All documents align with a birth location of Philadelphia, and he lived his young life in Germantown (the 22^nd ward in Philadelphia).[4]

 

In 1852 Henry attended the First United Methodist Church of Germantown sabbath school, located at 6019 Germantown Avenue, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. His father Daniel C. Paul was listed as harness maker.[5]

Current picture of First United Methodist Church of Germantown

Source: Google Maps

 

 

In June 1863, when Henry was 22 years old, he was registered in Pennsylvania for military duty, listed as living in the 22^nd ward of Philadelphia (Germantown).  He was single and white, his name was noted as “Harry,” he was born in the United States, and his occupation was a “victualer” (generally, someone who provides or sells food or alcoholic beverages).[6] He was mustered into service as a Private in the 33^rd Pennsylvania Volunteers regiment, Company F, in Harrisburg on 24 June 1863, and mustered out by 01 August 1863 in Philadelphia, serving less than 40 days.[7]

Sometime around 1865 Henry married SARAH JANE DAVIS.  This date was estimated based on the 1900 census information, which states they had been married for 35 years.  In addition, he was likely single through the time of serving in the Army in 1864, and their first child was born about 1866, which dates all align with a marriage in 1865. Although an extensive search was done for a marriage record in Philadelphia and Montgomery Counties, Pennsylvania, no record was found.

Sarah Jane DAVIS was born on 18 February 1842 in Pennsylvania, likely Gwynedd Township, to parents Samuel B. DAVIS and Eliza (SANDMAN) DAVIS.[8]  She was baptized at Boehm Reformed Church, Blue Bell, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, on 13 August 1842.[9]  Sarah Jane grew up in Gwynedd Township prior to her marriage to Henry, living with her parents, four brothers and one sister.[10]

Henry and Sarah had four children:

·       Henry K. PAUL born about 1866[11]

·       Miriam PAUL born on 06 February 1868[12]

·       Samuel Bartram Davis PAUL born 18 February 1871[13]

·       Walter Samuel PAUL born 27 July 1873[14]

In 1870, the family lived in what is currently the Fishtown area of Philadelphia, in the 18^th ward, 53^rd district. Henry’s occupation was a tobacconist, which lines up with the military registration of victualer – it appears he was in a retail position for a number of years.  By 1880, his occupation had shifted to ‘baggage agent.’  The 1890 veteran’s schedule of the U.S. census shows that the family had moved to 1334 Fairmount Avenue in Philadelphia,[15] the same address noted on Henry’s death certificate in 1909.  On 06 May 1909, Henry K. PAUL died at his home of chronic interstitial nephritis (kidney inflammation) that he had for several years.[16] He was buried on 10 May 1909 at the Boehm United Church of Christ cemetery, Blue Bell, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, in Section F, Row 3, Plot 17A.[17] There is no headstone on this grave.

Sarah Jane (DAVIS) PAUL passed not too long after Henry, on 31 July 1910, at her home. She had still been living at 1334 Fairmount Avenue, with her daughter Miriam and Miriam’s husband William CLAPHANSON. She died of tuberculosis of the lungs.[18] She is buried alongside her husband at the Boehm cemetery in Section F, Row 3, Plot 17B.[19]

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[1] Father’s name and residence listed on school record: First United Methodist Church of Germantown (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania), "Sabbath School Book, 1846-1855,"    1852, reg. no. 4058 for Henry K. Paul; image, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/2451/images/42154_329964-00641 : viewed 8 Dec 2020), image 2072.

Both parents’ names on 1850 census: 1850 U.S. census, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, population schedule, Germantown, fol. 230r, dwelling 563, family 591, Daniel C Paul household; NARA microfilm M432, roll 824. 

Margaret’s maiden name on burial record: Germantown Church of the Brethren Cemetery (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania), "Cemetery Records," lot 103, section Old, Daniel C Paul Sr and Margaret Fry Paul; image, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/2451/images/40162_264348-00529 : viewed 25 Nov 2020), image 181.

[2] 1840 U.S. census, Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania, population schedule, Germantown, fol. 244, row 29, Daniel C Paul household; NARA microfilm M704, roll 489.

[3] Consolidated Lists of Civil War Draft Registration Records (Provost Marshal General's Bureau), 5th Congressional District, Pennsylvania, including 22nd ward (Washington, D.C.: The National Archives, n.d.), vol. 2, p.71, line 14, for Harry Paul; image, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/1666/images/32178_620305173_0165-00148 : viewed 8 Dec 2020), image 144.

[4] See fn 1 school record and 1850 census, as well as 1860 census: 1860 U.S. census, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, population schedule, Philadelphia, ward 22, p. 103, dwelling 599, family 696, Danl. C Paul household; NARA microfilm M653, roll 1173.

[5] See fn 1.

[6] See fn 3.

[7] Compiled Military Service Records, Harry Paul (Pvt., Co. F, 33rd Regiment of Pennsylvania Volunteers, Civil War); NARA, Washington, DC.

[8] For date of birth and parents’ names: Boehm's Reformed Church (Blue Bell, Pennsylvania), "Births, Baptisms and Confirmations, 1834-1860," page 8, Sarah Jane Davis (1842); image, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/2451/images/40355_267551-00051 : 25 Nov 2020), image 52.

For mother’s maiden name: City of Philadelphia, return of a death, death certificate no. 19737 (1895), Eliza S. Davis; Philadelphia City Archives and Historical Society of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia; image, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S3HT-DZPS-9CK : viewed 24 Nov 2020), image 881.

[9] See fn 9.

[10] 1850 U.S. census, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, population schedule, Gwynedd Township, fol. 76v, dwelling 77, family 81, Samuel D. Davis household; NARA microfilm M432, roll 800.

1860 U.S. census, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, population schedule, Gwynedd Township, p. 16, dwelling 108, family 118, Samuel B. Davis household; NARA microfilm M653, roll 1145.

[11] 1870 U.S. census, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, population schedule, Philadelphia, district 53, ward 18, p. 160, dwelling 1220, family 1349, Henry K. Paul household; NARA microfilm M593, roll 1403.

[12] Deaths (CR) USA. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. 24 February 1925. CLAPHANSON, Miriam. State file no. 20227. https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/5164/images/42342_1521003238_0746-02405 : accessed 04 February 2024.

[13] City of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Registration of Births, 1871, p. 156, Samuel B.D. Paul; Family History Library microfilm 004261689, image 450; image, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VBT4-ZC3 : viewed 14 June 2022).

[14] Deaths (CR) USA. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. 04 September 1910. PAUL, Walter. State file no. 23549. https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S3HY-6QJ3-F3K : accessed 04 February 2024.

[15] 1900 U.S. census, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, population schedule, Philadelphia, ward 14, enumeration district (ED) 0248, sheet 2B, dwelling 31, family 36, Harry K. Paul household; NARA microfilm T623, roll 1457.

[16] City of Philadelphia, return of a death, death certificate no. 11362 (1909), Harry K. Paul; Philadelphia City Archives and Historical Society of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia; image, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S3HY-6X97-1PT : viewed 24 Nov 2020), image 407.

[17] Boehm's United Church of Christ (Blue Bell, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania), "History of the newer half of Boehm's Church Cemetery," booklet purchased from the church, in personal possession of Dawn Vanderwolf.

[18]  City of Philadelphia, return of a death, death certificate no. 19702 (1910), Sarah Jane Paul; Philadelphia City Archives and Historical Society of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia; image, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S3HT-DBGW-46W : viewed 24 Nov 2020), image 238.

[19] See fn 18.